Paul Kramer, screenwriter of Crave (Slamdance Horror semifinalist), makes an interesting point in the comments to an earlier post:
"...when I was young, my parents wouldn't allow me to watch horror films, which of course made me seek them out all the more."
My parents, too, did not allow me to see horror films. Violent images were strictly censored. We rarely went to movies and did not have a TV for many years. When we did watch television, we were not even allowed to see Speed Racer because it was, you know, shockingly violent.
And yet I grew up to write Red Wedding, one of the most violent, depraved, disgusting scripts ever written (I hope).
The only explanation I can offer for this bizarre turn of events is that, instead of watching films, I read books.
Lots and lots of books.
My parents approved of this.
Even if the book was written by, say, Stephen King.
Or H.P. Lovecraft.
Or Edgar Allan Poe.
Or Bram Stoker.
Or Dante.
The great thing about reading horror literature, as opposed to watching horror films, is that your imagination is actively engaged in creating the horrors.
Hollywood special effects will never equal a terrified reader's imagination.
So if you're a parent and you'd like your child to grow up to be a horror writer, my suggestion is to ban all horror movies and give your innocent little darling something stimulating to read.
Like, say, Macbeth.
Written by William "I have supped full of horrors" Shakespeare.
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5 comments:
David, I probably was not as inspired to read as much as you were by the ban on horror films in my household, unfortunately. However, I was drawn to the macabre in literature. My favorite novel of all time is FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The reason why I like the book so much... its themes. Obviously, theme is important in any form of storytelling. But, horror can really bring a theme home while surrounded by all that fear and death.
Hello fellow Slamdance semifinalists. I just stumbled upon this blog through Google.
David, you bring up some very interesting topics on your blog; particularly in this post. When I was younger, my parents allowed me to watch anything I wanted to, even horror films, but I think that my fascination with horror also comes from literature rather than films.
My first experience with horror films was watching A Nightmare on Elm Street. I found the video in my grandfather's vhs collection and decided to watch it because I wanted to know what was up with this Freddy guy that I would see posters of in my local video store. I was so scared by the movie that I didn't make it past the opening scene in the boiler room. And for a long time after that Freddy haunted me. I would watch other horror movies now and then but nothing compared to how scary I imagined A Nightmare on Elm Street to be. So one day, when I was feeling brave, I watched the whole thing, and although I loved it, I found that it wasn't as scary as I'd imagined.
Enter horror literature. Even though I kept watching horror movies, I found that nothing could compare to the fright I experienced while imagining what Nightmare was like. Eventually, I started reading horror books and found that they satiated my need to be frightened. It was so much more satisfying to read a Clive Barker story and have him fuel my imagination with all the gory details than it was to watch the often implied horror of movies.
Anyway, I hope that some news will be coming through from Slamdance soon and I wish you both the best of luck.
Roger Rousseau
writer of THE DEAD OF WINTER
Hey, Roger. Welcome. Soon enough, we'll have all twenty semifinalists here after they've scoured the internet for any news on the competition. THE DEAD OF WINTER, by the way, is a great title for a horror film, wish I'd thought of it first.
I too was seriously freaked after watching A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET for the first time. The only horror films I saw before it were JAWS and THE HOWLING, which both equally freaked me out as much as NIGHTMARE did. I think we keep watching horror movies because we want to experience that thrill again.
Best of luck to you, Roger.
Hey Paul, I wasn't sure that anyone else would like the title, but to me it was pretty obvious that it had to have that name: it's a zombie film that takes place during the winter.
And you might be right, we may just have all the semifinalists here soon enough. In the comments for an earlier post (Slamdance Horror List) Shaun O'Sullivan has also joined in.
THis is so absolutely true! Hollywood has nothing on the imagination...especially the creative person's imagination. You were probably creating movies in your head way better than any Hollywood movie when you were a kid reading those books!
I am enjoying reading your blog. Thanks!
K
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